Nicole deBrabander is CARE USA’s Program Officer and she is traveling in Uganda on a CARE Learning Tour - a comprehensive, multi-day tour for policymakers and those who can influence policy to gain firsthand knowledge of the core issues poor communities face. To learn more about the Learning Tours Program, please visit: www.care.org/learningtours.

The population of Uganda is growing exponentially. With 1.2 million additional people born each year, and a fertility rate of 6.6, the need for innovative and sustainable programs has never been greater.

We began the last day of the Learning Tour by meeting with three women parliamentarians who are leading the way toward change in their country. Speaker Rebecca Kadaga welcomed the group by emphasizing the focus of her work: To ensure that the principles of gender equity underscore all programs in Uganda. During her tenure, she has worked to ensure 30 percent women’s representation in parliament. Betty Aol, who represents the Gulu district, discussed the challenges that still face the country, including gender inequality, water and sanitation and health care. She explained the gap that exists in staffing community health workers: Only 179 community health workers currently exist while 500 are needed in the district. We then heard from Betty Bigombe, the State Minister for Water Resources in Parliament. Betty was instrumental in the peace process in Northern Uganda, working as the chief mediator with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). She emphasized the need to address the challenges of Ugandan women, including poor health services and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

Representative Barbara Lee greeting Speaker Kadaga.

After a robust discussion with the women parliamentarians, our delegation headed to Mildmay Uganda (MUg), a faith-based health facility that promotes comprehensive and integrated care to its patients, and is considered to be a center of excellence by the Ministry of Health. Here, people living with HIV (and their families) receive sexual and reproductive health services as part of their routine HIV care. They also receive specialist care, such as dental and vision, and participate in income-generating activities that help to support their families and create sustainable change in their lives. What is most unique about this facility is their psychosocial support initiatives and focus on women and children. After our delegation split into two groups to tour the clinics, youth center, school and income-generating shop, we joined back together to watch a performance by the youth group.

The youth group performs at the Mildmay Center in Kampala.

The group performed a short skit that told a promising story of a HIV-positive mother who learned, through prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) measures, she could give birth to a negative child. They also performed a beautiful song called “Thank You” and a young man educated our group on the importance of taking his antiretroviral treatment (ARV) through an inspiring dance to Michael Jackson’s, “Smooth Criminal.”

Catherine Connors (Babble) and Derreck Kayongo (CARE) dance along with the youth group at Mildmay Center.

This program is a true example of integrated programming where people receive the care they need not in sectors, but in one comprehensive package. With funding from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Mildmay currently supports almost 44,000 people (54% are women; 13% are children).

In closing, I know I speak for all of the delegation when I say we are excited to go home and share these amazing stories and experiences with our family, friends and colleagues! Thank you (webale)!

All photos: Josh Estey

Stephanie Chen is CARE USA’s Policy and Communications Manager traveling in Uganda on a CARE Learning Tour - a comprehensive, multi-day tour for policymakers and those who can influence policy to gain firsthand knowledge of the core issues poor communities face. To learn more about the Learning Tours Program, please visit: www.care.org/learningtours.

CARE USA CEO Helene Gayle congratulates the women in the NUWEP program for their progress.

Photo credit Josh Estey

The delegation, including Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA.), Rep. Jack Kingston(R-GA.), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), departed from Kampala this morning to a village in Gulu – a district in northern Uganda – to visit CARE’s Northern Uganda Women Empowerment Program (NUWEP) program. For several members of the delegation, this was their first visit to the post-conflict area where many Ugandan families are finally returning to their homes after years of civil war and displacement.

NUWEP is a holistic development program implemented by CARE that focuses on the safety and protection of the people affected by the conflict, especially women. Part of the program includes CARE’s signature Village Savings and Loans Program, which has increased the community’s capacity to be productive in agriculture and small enterprises.



CARE’s Board Chairman Bo Cutter

Photo credit Josh Estey

Despite their past, the participants the delegation met showed remarkable resilience: Many of the women – and men -- have started their own small businesses raising life stock and selling food. Many of them shared with us how the gender empowerment aspect of the programs also helped improve many women’s relationships with their husbands and allowed them to be a bigger part of the decision making process.

After the greeting the delegation with a traditional song, the group of 30 women in a VSLA helped the delegation understand the positive impact of the VSLA program by performing a skit. The skit called “We Will Never Give Up” centered on a poor woman in rural northern Uganda whose alcoholic husband refused to help her raise the children and tend to their crops. When the woman receives counseling from the NUWEP and joins the VSLA, her life begins to slowly improve. Eventually, her husband see’s her ability to save and invest money. He soon helps her with the work.

While the skit was short, it gave a glimpse into the positive changes many of these women have faced since joining the program. Afterwards the delegation visited each of the women’s small businesses. One group of women sold seeds, grains and vegetables. Another tapestry business where money from the VSLA was spent on the sewing machine.

Catherine Connors, writer and blogger for Babble.com shares a moment with the children in Gulu during the NUWEP visit

Photo Credit Josh Estey

Photo Credit Josh Estey

CARE's CEO Dr. Helene Gayle presents Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabzi with CARE's I Am Powerful book with Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA) and CARE's Board Chairman Bo Cutter.

The Learning Tours delegation met Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabzi to discuss development programs in Uganda and the impact of U.S. investments in foreign assistance.

Photo Credit Josh Estey

Stephanie Chen is CARE USA’s Policy and Communications Manager traveling in Uganda on a CARE Learning Tour - a comprehensive, multi-day tour for policymakers and those who can influence policy to gain firsthand knowledge of the core issues poor communities face. To learn more about the Learning Tours Program, please visit: www.care.org/learningtours.

During the first morning of our Learning Tour, the delegation, including Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) pictured below, visited Nsambya Home Care, a faith-based health care organization with funding from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The delegation met Possy, a shy young mother with two children coping with HIV in the slums of Kampala. Several times a month, a volunteer from Nsambya Home Care will travel to Possy’s home to give counseling and make sure she is properly taking her medication.

Senator Isakson at Nsambya Home Care
Photo Credit Josh Estey

The HIV/AIDS rate in Uganda is just less than seven percent, a sharp decline from 21 percent in 1990. But the infection rates are often higher in poorer areas like Possy’s neighborhood, and still remain a major challenge for the country.

While testing for HIV and handing out drugs is a vital component of HIV treatment and prevention, one very significant part of the process that is often overlooked is ensuring that patients are taking their medications.

That’s where Nsambya’s volunteers come in. With an average of 60 patients each, Nsambya’s volunteers make rounds to each home to teach their patients what drugs to take and when to make health clinic visits for check-ups. Many of the patients, who are often impoverished and struggling to feed their families, have trouble remembering when to take their medication or they may have other counseling needs but don’t have immediate access to health clinics.

In Uganda, the stigma against HIV is still very pervasive, particularly in the community the Learning Tour visited. That is why the home-based care provided by Nsambya’s volunteers is so critical, to ensure privacy and allow patients to feel secure asking questions about their condition.

Home visits are just one of the many services Nsambya provides for more than 8,900 people in Kampala. Other services at Nsambya include: pediatric counseling, provision of food and income-generating activities.

Next, the delegation headed to Reach Out Mbuya, a comprehensive faith-based organization in Kampala with funding and support from CDC and PEPFAR. The delegation was greeted with a vibrant and dynamic traditional dance from a local youth group:

Reach Our Mbuya Youth Group

Photo Credit Josh Estey